Tupac Month: Tony Danza Talks About His Relationship with ‘Pac
Tony Danza talks about writing Tupac Shakur in jail, becoming pen pals, meeting him for the first time, and why he thought ‘Pac was so special…
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During Tupac Shakur’s very brief, yet immensely impactful life, he accumulated an innumerable amount of supporters, as well as an interesting list of celebrity friends; everyone from Madonna and Mickey Rourke to Jasmine Guy and Jada Pinkett Smith had some sort of relationship with the beloved rap legend.
But arguably the most shocking friendship he acquired was with actor Tony Danza. Known for his roles on hit TV shows like Taxi and Who’s the Boss, Danza befriended ’Pac in 1995 via mail, when ’Pac was serving a one-and-a-half to four-year sentence for a sexual assault conviction (of which he only served 11 months). The former boxer-turned-thespian surprisingly reached out to Shakur in a moment of need and an unexpected relationship was formed.
TUPAC TALKS ABOUT TONY DANZA – FRENCH KICK… by frenchkick
XXL recently chopped it up with Tony to find out what exactly they spoke about while pen pals and why he felt compelled to contact ’Pac in the first place. As the theme to Who’s the Boss goes, “There’s more to life than what you’re livin’.” —Jesse Gissen
XXLMag.com: I don’t know if you’re aware but we’re approaching the 15-year anniversary of Tupac’s death this month.
Tony Danza: That’s unbelievable.
It really is. You corresponded with him while he was in jail in 1995. How did that begin? What motivated you to write a letter to ’Pac?
First of all, I’m a fan. I’m just a fan. I was a fan of his—and I’ll be honest with you, I’m not the biggest fan of gangster rap. But I was a fan of his, and the phenomenon really interested me, you know. And then, when he got shot five times, and then they had the sexual attack on that make-up lady, or something, I don’t remember what the deal was. He goes to jail. So I’m in my car one day, hitting the button and I hit “Dear Mama.” I hear his song, and I just thought to my self, “jeez, it’s really interesting that this guy that wrote this song is sitting in jail, with five bullet holes, with a big sign that says ‘Thug Life’ tattooed on his stomach, and yet here he is writing this kind of music, and doing this kind of work—pretty good actor too.” So, I just like to write people, because you’re somebody, they write back. It’s interesting; I think people write back for the most part anyway ’cause, getting a correspondence is so rare.
What exactly did the letter say?
So I wrote a note to him—a letter to him, and I said “Hey Tupac,” and it was so weird, I’ll never forget, I was trying to think, “what do you write? Do you write Tupac? How do you do it? ‘Dear Tupac?’ I don’t know—’dear [the number 2-Pac]?’ I don’t know.” So anyway, I just wrote and said “Listen, I love that song, I like a lot of your work,” I said, “considering the situation you find yourself in, and considering the juxtaposition of the song [“Dear Mama’] that reaches people like that, maybe there’s another way. I understand that the business you’re in is not—you can’t be a goody-two shoes in this business, but maybe there’s a way to inspire youth instead of—you know. Maybe there’s a way that you can use this talent of yours to inspire our youth, because they need somebody.”
FOR MORE TONY DANZA, GO TO PAGE 2
i fuckin laugh when people compare biggie and pac. how can u compare someone that has 2 albums worth of material to someone that has almost 30?? sounds pretty stupid to me. pac will always be the greatest dont compare anyone to him cuz nobody fuckin comes close!!!!
do some research.. none of tupacs albums were as influential as biggies two, especially ready to die! yeah big had 2 albums and pac had 5, not including after killuminat, but its about quality not quantity. Not to say one is better than the other but any one of bigs albums has more quotables than pacs first three put together. P.S. do not argue because it is a fact that big is the most quoted rapper ever… Not to say you can’t have your opinions, for all i care you can prefer lil b and vanilla ice to both artists but please do not try and use the card that 2pac has more material than Biggie because Lil Wayne has more songs than both put together, you know where I’m going with this
I hate when people try to pass their opinion as fact.
So you’re telling me that “Me Against the World” had no impact? “2pacolypse Now”? “All Eyez On Me”? Without the double album concept of “All Eyez On Me”, “Life After Death” wouldn’t exist. Youstrike me as someone who doesn’t listen to 2pac’s lyrics. Possibly an East Coast Bias, which is understandable. Hell I’m from Colorado.
“none of tupacs albums were as influential as biggies two”
You are kidding right? Big had a better flow, a better rhythm, but Pac spoke on way more influential subjects then Big ever did!
Big may have had more ‘quotables’ then Pac, but that’s because most of the world has trouble actually listening to an artists lyrics and recognising the point they were trying to make. Give most people a mean beat and a sentence that rhymes and that’s game, set, match. Every one of Pac’s songs had a strong meaning and not only related to Americans, but others around the world.
I do however agree that the amount of songs has nothing to do with who is the better out of the two, like you said Lil Wayne has more then both – and that dreded retard doesn’t even come close to being in a league with Pac & Biggie.
An argument trying to establish who is the better rapper will go on for eternity, they were both rap artists, but both had different ways of composing their music. In the end, it’s a matter of opinion.
RIP PAC & BIGGIE <3
I THINK ITS YOU THAT NEEDS TO DO THE RESEARCH . READY TO DIE ? IT WAS INFLUENTIAL IN NY . BIGGIE WAS THE ONLY ONE COMPETING WITH DEATHROW . BUT DOGGYSTYLE , ABOVE THE RIM , CHRONIC , ALL EYES ON ME WERE THE GAME CHANGERS . AND BIGGIE STUDIED THOSE ALBUMS TO CREATE HIS . THATS FROM HIS MOTUTH
EVERYONE STUDIED DEATHROW . DUNGEON FAMILY AND BAD BOY .
what are you basing these “facts” off of.you sound ignorant
COMPLETLY DIFFERENT STYLES AND SOUNDS! BIGGIE IS KING! PAC IS KING! LETS ACCEPT THAT BOTH WERE TWO OF HIP HOPS GREATEST AND ARE BETTER THAN ALL THE ARTISTS ALIVE TODAY PUT TOGETHER! ONE LOVEEEE
Ay-O, O-Ay!
Tony Danza is realer than your favorite rapper. And he’d still probably whoop the ass of most of them.
pac had 5 albums?? how bout untill the end of time?? double disc, better dayz double disc, greatest hits w/6 new songs double disc, r u still down double disc, still i rise w outlawz , thug life, one nation, makeveli and dillenger , i can go on all day. hows that for research. ive been in this rap shit since day 1 my friend , when people were spray painting and break dancing on linolium kid. pac rapped straight from the heart and make fuckin 300 songs in 2 years so take it deep. thuglife forever!!!!!!!………and another double disc of unheard shit thats still gonna come out.. and what about all the og tracks from pacs life and resurection that got fucked with. count em all next time i didnt even count the soundtracks he did
thats y they dont allow comment sometimes on the pac shit cuz theres always somebody ignorant. keep bumpin ready to die and life after death cuz i got a lifetime of music to pic from cuz i got every fuckin track he ever made and its MORE THAN ANY OTHER RAPPER HAS MADE IN THEIR LIFETIME. U CAN ADD JAY Z AND TOO SHORTS ALBUMS TOGETHER AND PAC MADE MORE IN A FRACTION OF THE TIME
Nice read. that’s a good look on Tony Danza’s part, only if Pac would have gotten out of that Death Row environment before it was too late…
As far as the Big & Pac Albums yall need to quit. Enjoy the music
Yeah, But biggie did better in his first album that he did on his second double album. Pac got better and better from album to album ! Biggie is better lyrically, but Pac has that Passion no other rapper ever showed ! I’m a big fan of both so, peace.
Tupac forever
I DONT KNOW Y ITS 2PAC MONTH AND THEY DONT TELL U HIS NEW ALBUM IS DROPPIN THE 13TH AND THEY RELEASING A NEW SONG FROM IT EVERYDAY UNTILL THEN . GOOD JOB XXL
Big Pun,Biggie Smalls,Big L,Eazy E etc ,so many of our brothers who are no longer here with us were gr8 MCs but none as influential as ‘Pac
Hip Hop 4 ever……………………………………………….
2Pac is the best! Biggie came after Pac. He was influensed by Pac’s music. That’s why Pac is #1.